Japan Van Life Ch 20 – the spiritual forest shrine pilgrimage
Japanese mythology has it that the sun goddess, Amaterasu’s brother once misbehaved so terribly that the sun goddess herself went into hiding in great shame and embarrassment. She would not be moved from the cave in which she hid until a group of deities came up with a cunning plan to perform a dance so spectacular that she couldn’t resist peeping out to see what the commotion was about. As soon as she wedged open the cave door, one of the deities flung open the door and threw it so hard that it flew all the way from the cave in Kyushu to Nagano. And so Mt Togakushi (literally meaning “hiding door”) was formed when the door plummeted back down to earth. The Togakushi shrine is said to have been founded 2,000 years ago and enshrines the deities who brought light back to the world.
In total there are 5 shrines, with a 2km trek surrounded by ancient forests between each of the lower, middle, and upper shrines. Today we’re visiting Togakushi’s upper shrine which worships the deity who grabbed and threw away the stone door to give thanks for the sunny spell we’ve been having, and to marvel at the 400 year old trees leading up to it.
📍LOCATION
Togakushi Shrine, Nagano (戸隠神社、長野県)
🚐 Watch more!
Our last van life video:
Touring Japan’s Tallest Dam (AKA the dam best dam in Japan)
🛠Our camping car DIY video
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Who or what is OshareJapan?
Hi! We’re Kiwi 🇬🇧 and Bear 🇯🇵, collectively known as OshareJapan. おしゃれ (o-sha-re) is a Japanese term for anything trendy, stylish or cool. OshareJapan = cool Japan! We are an international married couple based in Japan (funnily enough) in our secondhand van, which we converted into a mini home to travel freely around Japan to show you what it has to offer. If you like what you see, don’t forget to subscribe to keep up with our adventures! ❤️
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